He (God) defends the cause of the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. You are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:17,19
xe·no·pho·bia noun \ˌze-nə-ˈfō-bē-ə, ˌ: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign - from Merriam online dictionary
Dear Cathy:
Regrettably the letter you have circulated adds the growing xenophobia we have here in Canada towards new immigrants and refugees.
Canada's history of welcoming immigrants is a checkered one at best. Just ask the Japanese and Chinese who were imprisoned during the war, the immigrants from Eastern Europe who were forced to hard labour before they could bring their wives and children here.
Our first Native people, allowed the first Christian immigrants their religious freedom. They didn't seek to impose on the first white settlers their customs or traditions.
And in return we took their land, bludgeoned their people, traditions and culture, and then stuck the ones we didn't kill in reservations. And then we proceeded to forcibly make them like us by separating their children from their parents to attend residential schools, where many were sexually and physically abused.
We white anglo folk were proving to be mean nasty hosts of the land we had taken from the Native people.
And so we adopted 'multiculturalism', a flawed but nonetheless civil attempt to embrace people from different races and ethnicities, without forcing them as we had the Native people, to abdicate their culture. It's not perfect, but it's better than how our French and English forefathers had welcomed people from Eastern Europe, China and Japan.
But even now in welcoming immigrants, we don't recognize their academic credentials prior to their coming here. Few we'll accept if they're poor. Many refugees we turn away, sending them back to countries where they face imprisonment or death. The struggles they face in coming here may not seem as harsh as endured by those who came 80 to 100 years ago, but they are harsh. Just talk to a taxi driver in Halifax or Toronto - the one who obtained his doctorate in Zimbabwe, or Taiwan - whose only work option coming here is to drive a taxi 60-70 hours a week in a city he doesn't know. He didn't come to undermine our freedoms, nor our way of life - he came because he wasn't safe to fulfil his life's ambitions living where he lived.
I would encourage you, if you haven't already, to attend a swearing in ceremony for immigrants choosing to become Canadian citizens. It is one of the most moving events to ever be a part of. There you'll hear the Canadian anthem sung in a myriad of accents, by people in a myriad of dress, singing the anthem with a heart and depth of conviction you'll rarely hear among those 'native' to Canada. Their feel for freedom, not yet tainted by the affluence and apathy which dulls our taste for freedom, is inspirational.
These we should be welcoming, not condemning.
This does not preclude our society's right to not adopt certain practices that some immigrants may be more accustomed to, sharia law for instance. We are a democracy which embraces new Canadians as fellow citizens with the same right to influence our country's future as we old Canadians have.
We can't blame on immigrants and refugees the growing prevalence of various institutions i.e. government, public school boards, multi-national corporations etc to abandon Judeo-Christian traditions.
The blame lies elsewhere. It can be laid at the feet of those who abused the Judeo-Christian tradition to oppress and marginalize those not of that tradition. It was also used to keep women in the kitchen, blacks on plantations and gays in the closet.
We have a long and ungodly history of twisting the words of God into traditions which bully people outside the norm. Instead of our rightly putting into practice the love God has for the stranger, we soiled the image and holiness of the One our traditions were meant to reflect and honour. Had we as Christians recognized the wrong we'd done to the peoples not like us, perhaps God wouldn't have needed the ACLU and other agencies to take issue with the wrong we'd done. Conjecture I know, (for who of us can claim to know how God works), but maybe not far from what's transpired.
Every immigrant and refugee I know wishes me 'in season' Merry Christmas and I in response wish them 'in season' Happy Chanukha, blessed Eed or whatever. And we all gain as a result. Strangers become neighbours and in that backdrop and richness of cultures, the essentials of loving God and loving one's neighbour emerge. If we as Christians are taking the lead in that, then the truth of the gospel rings true for all people of peace and goodwill.
Immigrants and refugees are our future. But for them Canada's population would be shrinking and our capacity as a people to fulfill our pension, health and other social obligations to our fellow Canadians won't be met. So welcome the stranger, not only because the gospel commands it, but because it's good economic sense.
John Deacon
On 25-Nov-11, at 9:30 AM, Cathie C wrote:
I am an old friend of Jyoti's and live in Nova Scotia. I have been reading over your comments on the Vote No issue with great interest and although I realize we have been requested to not copy everyone in the group on this discussion; I would like to break the rule and invite you to read the interesting letter below that addresses some of your previous opinions.
Best regards,
Cathie
Excellent letter!! CANADA -YEAH!!!
Keep it going.......
Congratulations to our fellow Canadians in Quebec who had the courage and conviction to exhibit their common sense in officially banning the hijab for certain transactions where identity is mandatory.... It's a start. It's a privilege to be allowed to immigrate and to live in this country..... not a right. When this hit the e-news a few weeks ago, there was overwhelming support by the readers who AGREED with Quebec 's action. The letter below says it all...
A Letter to the Editor
So many letter writers have explained how this land is made up of immigrants. Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people why today's Canadian is not willing to accept the new kind of immigrant any longer.
Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to Canada , people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in Halifax and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new Canadian households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home. They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new and better life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.
Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labour laws to protect them. All they had were the skills, craftsmanship and desire they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.
Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. Canadians fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France, Japan, China, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Sweden, Poland and so many other places. None of these first generation Canadians ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Canadians fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan . They were defending the Freedom as one people. When we liberated France , no one in those villages was looking for the Ukrainian-Canadian or the German-Canadian or the Irish-Canadian. The people of France saw only Canadians.
And we carried one flag that represented our country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be a Canadian. They stirred the melting pot into one red and white bowl.
And here we are in 2011 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges, only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules -- one that includes a Canadian passport and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being a Canadian is all about. Canadians have been very open-hearted and open-minded regarding immigrants, whether they were fleeing poverty, dictatorship, persecution, or whatever else makes us think of those aforementioned immigrants who truly did ADOPT our country, and our flag and our morals and our customs, and left their wars, hatred, and divisions behind. I believe that the immigrants who landed in Canada in the early 1900s deserve better than that for the toil, hard work and sacrifice those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags, fighting foreign battles on our soil, making Canadians change to suit their religions and cultures, and wanting to change our countries fabric by claiming discrimination when we do not give in to their demands.
Its about time we get real and stand up for our forefathers rights, we are CANADIAN Lest we forget it I am a Native of this Country & proud of it!
NO MORE POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
And while we're on the subject - allow CHRISTMAS back in stores and our schools!
I Want my Canada of birth BACK
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